Brisbane in sight for Ashes cyclist
Published: 21 September 2010

Olie Broom, the man whose fundraising adventure to cycle to the 2010 Ashes began at Lord’s in October 2009, has reached Australia on route to Brisbane.

Broom is set to start the final leg of his 25,000km adventure to Brisbane after successfully making his way to Indonesia, where he boarded a boat for Darwin.

From Darwin, Broom plans to take the Stuart Highway towards the ‘red centre’ before turning towards the East coast, then finally South towards Brisbane - hopefully in good time for the opening Test on 25 November.

Spreading the word

As well as inviting him into the Home of Cricket for his ceremonial departure, the MCC gave Broom a replica Ashes Urn to accompany him across the globe.

Armed often with only his cricket bat and replica Urn to educate the locals, cricket addict Broom as endeavored to play impromptu matches in places as far flung as the Nubian Desert in Sudan and a rubbish dump in Damascus.

He has now passed through 21 countries on route to Australia and with Europe, Africa and Asia behind him, the unforgiving outback is his last major hurdle.

Charities

Broom is aiming to raise £100,000 for two charities, The Lord’s Taverners and the British Neurological Research Trust.

The Lord's Taverners help young people, particularly those with social, environmental, physical or learning disadvantages, to enjoy cricket and other sporting and leisure activities.

The BNRT support research to find a method of repairing damage to the brain and spinal cord in patients suffering from the crippling effects of spinal cord injury, birth injuries, strokes, head injuries, multiple sclerosis and degenerative conditions such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases.